Prabalgad (also known as Muranjan, Pradhangad or Prabalmachi) is a fort located between

Matheran Matheran is a partially automobile free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat, Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropo ...

and

Panvel Panvel () is a city and taluka in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is highly populated due to its closeness to Mumbai. Panvel is also governed for development purpose by the body of Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Panvel Municipal C ...

and comes under the

Raigad District Raigad district (), previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters of the district is Alibag. Other major cities in the district are Panvel, Karjat, Navi Mumbai, Khopoli, Sh ...

in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The Prabalgad Fort stands at an elevation of in the Western Ghats. The fort was previously known as ''Muranjan'' until it was taken over and renamed by the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

forces under

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

's rule. Its sister fort is

Irshalgad Irshalgad is a fortress located between Matheran and Panvel in Maharashtra, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by ...

. Right next to Prabalgad, to its north, lies the steep Kalavantin pinnacle.

History

The Prabalgad Fort was built by the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...

to keep an eye on the Panvel Fort and the Kalyan Fort in the North Konkan area. Around 1458 A.D, "Malik Ahmad" the prime minister of the kingdom of Ahmednagar, took over the fort during his conquest of Konkan. After disintegration of the

, the fort remained with the

Ahmadnagar Sultanate The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a medieval Marathi Muslim kingdom located in the northwestern Deccan, between the sultanates of Gujarat and Bijapur, ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty. It was established when Malik Ahmed, the Bahmani governor o ...

. During the collapse of the

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (; 18 March 1594 – 23 January 1664) was a 17th century Indian military leader who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a member of the Bhonsle dynas ...

led a helping hand against the separate forces of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

and the

Adil Shahi dynasty The Sultanate of Bijapur was an early modern kingdom in the western Deccan and South India, ruled by the Muslim Adil Shahi (or Adilshahi) dynasty. Bijapur had been a ''taraf'' (province) of the Bahmani Kingdom prior to its independence in 1490 ...

. After the collapse of the Sultanate, he moved to Muranjan along with his wife

Jijabai Jijabai Shahaji Bhonsale (; 12 January 1598 – 17 June 1674), referred to as Rajmata Jijabai, was the mother of Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Kingdom. She was a daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed Raja. Early life Jijabai was born ...

and son

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

for a brief period of time. However, following

's defeat and the agreement of Mahuli, North Konkan along with the fort, was ceded to Mughals who granted ruling authority of the area to Adilshah of

Bijapur Bijapur (officially Vijayapura) is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importa ...

. Shivaji conquered the fort from the Mughals in 1657 A.D, after which he established himself in the

Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) of Thane district ...

- Bhivandi area. During the attack by Shivaji, the fort was governed by "Kesar Singh", a Mughal sardar, and was the only fort to put up a strong resistance. Singh died during the battle in October 1657. Kesar Singh's mother hid herself and her grandchild during the attack. Shivaji, in an act of kindness made sure the lady and the child were allowed a safe passage out. In the year 1826, Umaji Naik, a freedom fighter and his associates were believed to have made the fort as their home for a brief period of time.

Geography

Prabalgad lies on the Prabal plateau between Matheran and Panvel and can be easily spotted from the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The Ulhas River runs to the east of the fort while the "Gadhi River" runs to the west. The Patalganga River is to the south. The forts of Chanderi and Peb are to the west. The Manikgad Fort is to the south while the Karnala fort is located towards the north. Kalavantin Durg is a 685m high pinnacle on the northern edge of the Prabal plateau. It is located near the Machi and near the Vajepur village.

Climate

Prabalgad has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(Am) with little to no rainfall from November to May and extremely heavy rainfall from June to September with moderately heavy showers in October.

References

{{Forts in Maharashtra Forts in Raigad district